Articulated railway truck



Apr-i126, 193s.

R. F. NEWTON ARTICULATD RAILWAY TRUCK Filed March l5, 1957 INVENT OR Rqy f.' Nen/fon ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 26, 1938 UNITED STATES PATET OFFECE 9 Claims.

My invention herein relates to trucks iorhigh speed transportation systems including a track and self-propelled vehicles or" the coach type, either singly or in trains, and has for its principal object as delineated and described in this portion thereof, a truck which makes available the use of pneumatic tires on vehicles of this character that are adapted to run on steel rails.

An objectv of this invention subsidiary to the one above mentioned is` a truck of the character described that is adapted to run upon and be guided by steel rails in which the side walls oi the pneumatic tires are kept out of contact with the rails at all times.

Another object of my invention is a self guided truck of the character described in which the guiding is done by horizontal wheels which may be tired with either pneumatic tires or hard rubber tires and in which the guide wheels are kept in physical contact with the rail member and are rshiitable with respect to the leading and trailing axles to make the truck reversible as to direction.

Another object of my invention is an articulated truck of the character described in which a pair of guide wheels is placed at each end of the truck in such a manner that a horizontal line drawn through the axes of the guide wheels will lie in a plane substantially ahead of the axes of the leading wheels of the truck that turning moment may be applied effectively to the leading pair of wheels.

Numerous other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains or is most nearly connected, and which are set forth in the subjoined claims. l

The structure herein shown is alternative to that shown, described and claimed in my Patent No. 2,076,914, patented April 13, 1937.

A drawing accompanies and forms a part of this specication in which,-

Fig. 1 is a View of the underside of an articulated six wheel truck provided with my new invention as hereinafter described, shown in the position the several parts of the truck will occupy while proceeding on a straight track in the direction of the arrow shown in this ligure;

Fg. 2 is the same structure shown in Fig. l except that it has been shown on a curved piece of track and a special shifting of guide wheel gear has occurred to promote its ability to travel in the direction shown by the arrow in this iigure;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section` on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is an end View from t-Ll of Fig. 3.

As will be noted from the views, the truck is a three unit articulated truck having a frame I, which will be provided with a center plate on the top side as shown at numeral 2 in Figs. 3 and 4, upon which the weight of the Vbody of a railway car will be carried.

The frame I is carried by the axle housings in Vthe same 'manner as shown in my Patent No.

2,076,914, heretofore referred to, that is the end housings are swingable With respect to the axis of the frame and the center. housing is movable in a plane normal to the said axis, to provide for movement around a curve without binding in the frame.

The center plate 2 will be provided with the usual center pin and suitable bearings for carrying the weight according to known art.

Motor housings 3, Il, and 5, diagrammatically represent means of applying power to the axles 6, l', and 8, thence to the load wheels, 9, I0, II, I2, i3, and I4 which are shown to be equipped with pneumatic tires, not given a specificV numerical designation.

The motor housings 3, 4, and 5 diagrammatically rep-resent any means of applying power to the axles, the wheels and thus power to the truck to propel the car.

Articulation arms 3a, 4a, 4b, and 5c are shown integral with the motor housings 3, d, and 5 and are pivoted together at 26, the pivots being equidistant from the axles.

A preferred cross section of track is shown in Fig. e in which I5 represents the tread upon which the wheels such as 9 and I2 will roll and in which I6 is an integral upstanding ange against which the guide wheels Il' and i6 are adapted to bear in the manner hereinafter pointed out in detail. Y Y Y The guide wheels i?, i8, IS, and 2) are rotat- .ably mounted at Ila, Ia, I9a and Za. The guide wheel frame 2i, is preferably of rectangular general outline with suitable bracing and is provided with a pair of mountings such as 2Ia and 2lb that are arranged to be longitudinally movably mounted in the guides 3b and 5h but are restrained against other movement.

An important feature of this construction which is set forth in detail in my patent hereinbefore referred to, is the manner of articulating the units lof the truck by the articulation joints such as 25 and 26, which are shown to be equidistantly spaced between the axles, in this case three. Also asV disclosed in the patent referred to, abutting arcuate bearing surfaces areprovided at each end of the end axle mounting, which are in fricp Vto ,Y Y3o 'Y be reversed as to mode of operation and result when proceeding in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig: 1. Y

features, however, are more fully set forth in the Y patent referred to.

, Vof the end axles, extending the samedistance onV The guides 31a-and 5b preferably bisect the axes each side, of an axis, at right angles thereto. They thus serve as crank arms by which the guide wheels such as I'I and IB serve to swing the Wheels such as'9 and I2 to conform to a curvedV track as shown in Fig. 2 when the frame 2| is shifted'so that the-point of contact of guide Wheels such as II and I8 is in advance Yof the point of contact of the load wheels such as 9 and I2 on the tread of the track at I5. Y

Obviously shifting the frame 2| and the guide Wheels I'I and EB willplace the same in the lead ,Y of thefront wheels of the truck, 9 and I2, and

at the "same time will place the guide wheelsY I9 and ZGin'the lead of the trailing load wheels II and I4.Y

The load wheels I and I3 will take a slight lon gitudinalI shift under the inuence of the articulation joints 26 but will be so arranged that the inside wheelronftheV curve suchtas I 3 does not actually contact the upstanding flange I6 of the rail. Y

Obviously also when it is vdesired to proceed in the opposite direction, the guide wheel frame ZI will be .shifted Vto the position shown in Figs.

. 1 and 3 at which time the guide wheels I9 yand 20 will be in the lead and the whole truck unit will For shifting the guide wheel frame! I with respect to the axle mountings andi, I have shown a reversible electric motor 30 attached to a screw 3l and arranged to engage anrinternal threadedV nut 32 which is connected with the guide wheel frame 2I in such a manner that when the motor is run or reversed a proportionate movement of the guide wheel frame 2l will be accomplished.

Y. This illustration `of shifting means is diagram- Y Vmatic, hence no control means for the motor Y3l) have'be'en shown since if itis desired to'use ay motor, appropriate control means are well known. This disclosure is a modification of mypatent Yreferred to, principally in the matter of applying if the guide wheels to the truck unitV as a whole and is different from Vthat disclosure in that all guide wheels are at all times in contact with the track regardless of the direction in which theY truck is running, and it is believed to present some advantages over the disclosure referred to for Vconditions obtaining Vwhen the railway vehicle that it supports is going around acurve :at high speed,

so thatV centrifugal 'force becomes a major factor to be controlled. Y y,

Havingthusjdisclosed my invention so that .anyoneY familiar with the art to which itY appertains' may make and use the same, what I claim `as new` and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

- Y. 1. n articulated truckrfor rail vehicles com- 4-prising a frame, a plurality of articulated truck units of thecharacter described mounted in said frame, Y a guide-wheel frame subjacent to the trucks and 'mounted in guides Von thev lower side of the endY units that is selectively longitudinallyY VVmovable with respect tothe varticulated truck.

units, pairsV of horizontal guide wheels rotatably Y ymounted onthe guideewheel frame in spaced re- .to a leadingaxle.

lationship that are effective to guide the end truck units byrail contact and means for shifting the guide wheel frame longitudinally with respect to the end truck units. f Y Y 2. A guide wheel frame for an articulated truck of the character described comprising a substantially quadrang'ular frame member, horizontal guide wheels of the character Ydescribed rotatably I mounted at each angle thereof and( a pair of centrally positioned end mountings yon said guider Wheel frame thatare adaptedto engage superposed articulated truck units for longitudinalV 1K movement only, with respect to `said articulated` that is restricted to longitudinal movement with respectthereto, a plurality of guide wheels mount- Y ed thereon-and means connecting the `guide wheel frame to the end units of saidl axle mountings that are adapted tov swing said axle mountings with respect to said load carrying frame under the inrfluence of the guide wheels. e

5. The combination as characterized 4 and including power operated means for selectively imparting longitudinal 5 movement to f' `the guide wheel frame with respectto the axlel mountl ings. y

6.V Inra plural axle truck, a plurality of articulated axle mountings, a main frame within which said axle mountings are mounted for relative movement,V a shiftable guide wheel frame below the truck' axlesl that is suspension mounted on the end axle mountings,A pairs of horizontal guide wheels end mounted thereon rthat Yare adapted to contact a track at points ahead of the end Ytruck Y wheels, the said guide wheel frame being adapt-1 ed to move the axles with respect to the frame i Within which they are mounted under influence' of guide wheel contact with a track. v

7. The combination las, characterized in claim 6 and including means forselectvely shifting the 1 guide wheel frame longitudinally, to place aY pair of guide wheels in leading position with respectV 8. An articulated railway Vtruck comprisingv a load frame andV a plurality Yof articulated axle vin Vclaim l housings mounted in`r the frame, characterized byV Y a guide frame that is mounted beneath the hous-` Y housing unit and the guide frame and a pair of Yings, Ya sliding joint connector between .each end ,Y

guide wheels at each end'of the guide frame'that' 'L' are arranged to bear'against the upstanding porv tion of a track, in advance of said end housing units to hold Athem in relative position to a track,

- independently ofY load wheel bearingV on'a track. 9. A truckaccording to`claim 8 characterizedVV by a kmotor 'driven screwdevice Yfor selectively'V shifting the guide frame; to bring a pair'of guide Y wheels into trackbearing ahead of the-leading j Y axle housing for either direction of movement. RAY NEWv I'ON.V 

